The Sugar Plum Fairy’s Tutu…look at her little embellished wings! My favourite Christmas tradition has long been Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. I have attended The National Ballet of Canada’s performance since I was a little girl and I will never tire of the music, the costume, or the enchanting story. Admittedly I saw three renditions this year, including that of The Mariinsky and The Bolshoi, though those were on television and DVD format. I cannot wait to visit St. Petersburg and see the Mariinsky perform at their eponymous theatre, which in my opinion is the second most beautiful piece of architecture…

As a Christmas celebration my mother and I attended High Tea at Toronto’s Windsor Arms Hotel in Yorkville, my favourite of Toronto’s many neighbourhoods. We were sat in the Russian Room, a small red room decorated in Russian style and adorned with framed images of the Russian Royal Family. We were informed by our waiter that the hotel originally housed three restaurants each serving: Russian cuisine, French cuisine and a steakhouse. We were each served our own pot of tea. I opted for a black tea blended with rose petals. The rose petals give the tea a creamy taste, but don’t overpower the flavour of…

This past Wednesday I attended The National Ballet of Canada‘s performance of Shakespeare’s, “The Winter’s Tale” with two friends. The ballet was unlike any I’ve seen before. With very simple sets, as well as costumes. The women wore long, plain dresses and had few costume changes, I don’t think there was a single classic tutu. Christopher Wheeldon’s emotive choreography depicted the story line with more clarity than I have ever witnessed before in a ballet. I looked over at the end of the first act to find one of my friends bawling! As a dancer myself I’m typically more concerned with the…

Last week I attended to National Ballet of Canada’s production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It was the most magical ballet I have seen to date. I had been waiting over a year to see the ballet, since the 2014/2015 season had been released. I adore seeing the ballet, as a dancer myself, I love watching professionals and gain so much inspiration from the time and effort they put into their bodies, technique and memorization of a full ballet. I have always been a huge fan of the story and history of Alice in Wonderland and loved seeing it come to…

Today was spent in Toronto’s Distillery District enjoying the magic and whimsy of the annual Christmas Market. As we live out of town we arrived quite early, around noon. I would recommend arriving later in the day though. There are far fewer crowds before sunset, however it’s perfectly romantic after dark, when the lights have the opportunity to glitter unobscured by the interference of daylight. Given that the traditional Christmas market originated in Germany, Toronto’s Distillery District is the perfect setting for the market. The Distillery District is an enchanting little historic corner of the city. With cobblestone streets, lined with old fashioned lanterns and…